Morals??? He came forward to the school about it. You don't think ND encouraged him to not bring it forward in the media before the Championship game? C'mon...

At this point it's 50-50.

He came forward but still lied after that. Disregard the championship game. Lying is still lying. Even if you think you are doing the right thing for you it's still not ethically correct to lie about it after you knew the real fact.

Ronaiah Tuiasosopo, the man who has been publicly identified as being behind the Manti Te'o girlfriend hoax, called a church friend in early December crying and admitted to duping the Heisman finalist, the friend told "Outside the Lines" Thursday.

The friend, a woman in her mid-20s, agreed to be interviewed under the condition that she not be identified, saying she was fearful for her family's safety because of the overwhelming publicity the story has generated. In the interview, she did allow for her voice to be recorded.

She said Tuiasosopo gave her the tearful confession and account of how he played what he said was at first a game on the unsuspecting Te'o. And, she said, he told her that it wasn't the first time he had done it.

"He (Ronaiah) told me that Manti was not involved at all, he was a victim. … The girlfriend was a lie, the accident was a lie, the leukemia was a lie," said the woman. "He was crying, he was literally crying, he's like 'I know, I know what I have to do.'

"It's not only Manti, but he was telling me that it's a lot of other people they had done this to."

Notre Dame issued a news release Wednesday after Deadspin.com reported it could find no record of Lennay Kekua, Te'o's supposed girlfriend, existing.

Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick said in a news conference Wednesday night that coaches were informed by Te'o and his parents on Dec. 26 that Te'o had been the victim of what appeared to be a hoax. Someone using a fictitious name "apparently ingratiated herself" with Te'o, the school said, then conspired with others to lead him to believe she had died of leukemia.

Swarbrick said that the relationship took place online and over the phone. Te'o had described staying on the phone with whom he thought was Kekua for hours each night over many months. Tuiasosopo's friend from church told ESPN that Tuiasosopo admitted to having his female cousin speak to Te'o over the phone.

OTL also interviewed two other people who said they have a cousin who had the same online hoax pulled on them by Tuiasosopo.

J.R. Vaosa, 28, of Torrance, Calif., and Celeste Tuioti-Mariner, 21, of Whittier, Calif., said that in 2008 their cousin began an online romance with a woman who portrayed herself as a model. Vaosa said the cousin showed Vaosa a picture on MySpace of a woman from a Victoria's Secret catalog that he said was Kekua. Vaosa said that the online Kekua would agree to meet his cousin at certain places. Vaosa said he went with the cousin to meet her.

"When Lennay said she was gonna be at this park one day, we'd go to the park and Ronaiah pops up and then we go to the gym in Orange County where the kids have volleyball tournaments, Ronaiah's there," Vaosa said.

Finally, the family convinced Vaosa's cousin that something wasn't right and he needed to cut things off not only with Kekua, but Tuiasosopo, whom they were convinced was the real Kekua, Tuioti-Mariner said.

"I just knew that my cousin would invite her to certain events and Lennay would always say she would go to those things, but she would never end up going and instead of her going we would see Ronaiah," Tuioti-Mariner said.

Then this fall, Vaosa and Tuioti-Mariner saw the story of Te'o's dying girlfriend.

"When I found out about the Samoan football player (and) his girlfriend, his Grandma died the same day, I was like, 'Whoa this is crazy,' I feel so bad for him, so I just looked him up," Vaosa said. "I found out his girlfriend's name was Lennay Kekua. And right when I read the name Lennay Kekua, I immediately thought of Ronaiah. Then I thought of my cousin -- that this has to be the same person."

The cousins said they were convinced Te'o was being victimized, but they were uncertain of what to do. They said they began tweeting their suspicions. Many of their tweets were laced with sarcasm including claims that they were the real Lennay Kekua. After Deadspin.com broke the story on Te'o and Swarbrick held a news conference, Vaosa and Tuioti-Mariner found reporters at their door and said threats were made to them and their families on Twitter.

Another person involved in the hoax has come forward as well. The woman whose photos were portrayed as Kekua was identified by "Inside Edition" as Diane O'Meara. Her lawyer told the program that her client is also a victim and that her photos were stolen and used to create the illusion of Te'o's girlfriend.

Deadspin.com reported in its original story that the woman whose images were used as Kekua's was actually a former high school classmate of Tuiasosopo and that he used a ruse to get her to send him at least one photo.

Meanwhile, the woman who says Tuiasosopo confessed to her said she has urged Tuiasosopo to take responsibility for his actions.

She said he called her Wednesday as the news of the hoax was breaking. She said he sounded calm but she worries about his guilt over what he did to Te'o and what he did to his family name, one of the most prominent in all of Polynesian sports. She worries what he might do to himself.

"I (still) am worried for him (Ronaiah), not just him and his family but I know that you can't judge people like that and that's why I continue to just encourage (him) to come out and tell the truth," she said.

I understand your point, however the timeline doesn't match up. If he stood up during the 2nd week of December and said, "wait, stop your prayers and your charity foundations because the girl is a fake. I just learned this and it is hard for me, but please bear with me as we figure this out." I would have had great respect for him and he would have been fine. There still would have been 3-4 weeks until the championship game and his character would be undeniable.

However...he kept talking about the stuff after he knew and basically is a giant *****. It wasn't about the team then, it was all about himself. That's with ignoring the reports of the teammates saying they doubted the girlfriend story.

You know very well that had he released the news 3-4 weeks leading up to the big game that it would've been a huge distraction. Let's not pretend otherwise.

The fact that he came forward about it with the school before the game is man enough for me. There's a difference between bringing up the story and answering questions about the story. He did the latter. ...AND it was probably suggested for him to do it by the schoool to avoid distraction before the game.

He came forward but still lied after that. Disregard the championship game. Lying is still lying. Even if you think you are doing the right thing for you it's still not ethically correct to lie about it after you knew the real fact.

He took one for the team. So he lied. Oh wow cry me a river.

Because nobody lies right??? Don't act like this social world is so moral.

um... a lot of us know better than to trust athletes in shady situations. His silence and lack of a cohesive story that explains comments about his involvement with her as bf/gf both before and after she 'died' is enough to portray a guilty or not innocent sign around him. The situation feels like it is being handled and not told openly.

I just stated to you that it was ethically not correct to lie about it because he knew the fact weren't real. He's a liar. Get over it now.

There's nothing to get over. It's a "so what?" kind of story. People can call him a liar. SO WHAT ABOUT IT? He protected his team. If was only about saving embarassment for himself, then he never would've told ND about it in the first place. In this case, he made the weeks leading up to the Championship game about THE TEAM and not about MANTI'S FAKE ONLINE GF. He HAD TO play along with the media, but he didn't play along with his own conscious or the school. He came forward.

um... a lot of us know better than to trust athletes in shady situations. His silence and lack of a cohesive story that explains comments about his involvement with her as bf/gf both before and after she 'died' is enough to portray a guilty or not innocent sign around him. The situation feels like it is being handled and not told openly.

Exactly. The silence of everyone but his uncle (b/c the attention whoring apparently runs in the family?) is damning. The cancelled presser; no attempt to clear the air about the many, many contradictions in story telling over time. Add a pinch of disappearing source articles from deadspins original story and you have to be damn near blind to not see where it's all heading. The ND local rag that was cited and linked removed the ******* article right about the same time Te'o/ND loyalists started with the "Where did he say that" arguments . . . how convenient.

um... a lot of us know better than to trust athletes in shady situations. His silence and lack of a cohesive story that explains comments about his involvement with her as bf/gf both before and after she 'died' is enough to portray a guilty or not innocent sign around him. The situation feels like it is being handled and not told openly.

He's guilty of leading the media on (for good reason). He's not guilty as far as telling his authorities. Wanna call him a liar? Sure, go for it. You're just choosing what you want to see.

...and we're not even talking about a criminal act here either. So big whoop if he lied.

People on one hand need to stop trying to make this seem like a complex hoax masterminded by Te'o, and people on the other hand need to stop defending Te'o like he was an innocent victim that did no wrong, or that any wrong-doing was wiped out by notifying ND/acting in the best interests of the team.

As someone stated early, the minute Te'o knew it was all fake and decided to consciously lie about it is the minute he stopped being a victim. For the foreseeable future he deserves to have his judgement and trust questioned by teams, media, and fans, and deserves every joke or insult thrown his way. Regardless if his family, ND, or anyone told him to keep lying, no one held a gun to his head.

Unless something new comes out of left field, no one should be outraged one way or the other anymore, and just accept that Te'o is an idiot.

People on one hand need to stop trying to make this seem like a complex hoax masterminded by Te'o, and people on the other hand need to stop defending Te'o like he was an innocent victim that did no wrong, or that any wrong-doing was wiped out by notifying ND/acting in the best interests of the team.

As someone stated early, the minute Te'o knew it was all fake and decided to consciously lie about it is the minute he stopped being a victim. For the foreseeable future he deserves to have his judgement and trust questioned by teams, media, and fans, and deserves every joke or insult thrown his way. Regardless if his family, ND, or anyone told him to keep lying, no one held a gun to his head.

Unless something new comes out of left field, no one should be outraged one way or the other anymore, and just accept that Te'o is an idiot.

An awesome idiot who completely duped the public and national media. Let's not sell him short.

Exactly. The silence of everyone but his uncle (b/c the attention whoring apparently runs in the family?) is damning. The cancelled presser; no attempt to clear the air about the many, many contradictions in story telling over time. Add a pinch of disappearing source articles from deadspins original story and you have to be damn near blind to not see where it's all heading. The ND local rag that was cited and linked removed the ******* article right about the same time Te'o/ND loyalists started with the "Where did he say that" arguments . . . how convenient.

Legendary Story is Legendary!

Love the word damning as if he did something criminal. ...as if he covered up a murder or something. Gee wiz.

He's guilty of leading the media on (for good reason). He's not guilty as far as telling his authorities. Wanna call him a liar? Sure, go for it. You're just choosing what you want to see.

...and we're not even talking about a criminal act here either. So big whoop if he lied.

The matter isn't criminal I agree. The issue at hand is that how can you like a guy who maliciously lies to endear himself to the media? He isn't being damned criminally he's being killed in the court of public opinion which is exactly the folks he "wronged".

T'eo brought this entirely on himself and the media will make a story out of anything. As I said previously it isn't an indictment of a criminal offense it's an indictment in the absolute stupidity and lack of forward thinking of a potential first round draft pick.

A more comical comparison would be how would everyone treat Tim Tebow if it came out that he was into whoring, doesn't attend church, and enjoys painting pentagrams on himself and his loyal cult of followers.

An awesome idiot who completely duped the public and national media. Let's not sell him short.

Well ya, either way it's an impressive feat in general, starting from the fact that he is a 22 year old high profile athlete that either believed he had a real online relationship or faked one. Regardless of what happened, the guy has idiotic skills we rarely see.

There's nothing to get over. It's a "so what?" kind of story. People can call him a liar. SO WHAT ABOUT IT? He protected his team. If was only about saving embarassment for himself, then he never would've told ND about it in the first place. In this case, he made the weeks leading up to the Championship game about THE TEAM and not about MANTI'S FAKE ONLINE GF. He HAD TO play along with the media, but he didn't play along with his own conscious or the school. He came forward.

Its the same kind of protect the program bs that helped make the Sandusky/Penn State scandal possible. Throw in the other scandals that have hit this team, from groped suicide girl(who also played in the championship game), not watching out of the safety of the kid videotaping the practice in a high risk situation, and that's just the crap that I know and I don't really follow Notre Dame. Now they were silent and covering up for Te'o while other people were feeding charity and sympathies to him over the story. It just so happened to be during Heisman season too. They just look terrible and completely not trustworthy. Where's Te'o's outraged press conference where he can clearly state when he met the girl and the relationship that they had?

*Also, I have doubts on the entire thing now from months prior. Where were the tears of outrage during his previous interviews when he talked about his dead girlfriend whose lifesigns would rise when she spoke to him? It all looks like bs.

The matter isn't criminal I agree. The issue at hand is that how can you like a guy who maliciously lies to endear himself to the media? He isn't being damned criminally he's being killed in the court of public opinion which is exactly the folks he "wronged".

T'eo brought this entirely on himself and the media will make a story out of anything. As I said previously it isn't an indictment of a criminal offense it's an indictment in the absolute stupidity and lack of forward thinking of a potential first round draft pick.

A more comical comparison would be how would everyone treat Tim Tebow if it came out that he was into whoring, doesn't attend church, and enjoys painting pentagrams on himself and his loyal cult of followers.

He didn't lie to make up the story though. That's where people want to crucify him for. When he found out, he told the school. At what point does the school coersing him to hide story play a part of the picture? Should he take full blame? I don't think so. They did it together to help themselves. The public can take a backseat to the National Championship game any day.

Well ya, either way it's an impressive feat in general, starting from the fact that he is a 22 year old high profile athlete that either believed he had a real online relationship or faked one. Regardless of what happened, the guy has idiotic skills we rarely see.

Indeed. I'm actually liking him more and more as I think and debate about it here. He's either a lovable dufus w/a big heart or a diabolical publicity genious.

If NE wasn't already stocked up on slow-ish ILBs that can't cover the middle of the field very well, I'd be happy to see him in Foxborough on draft day.